Initial report on downed Malaysian jet in Ukraine due in Sept

PanARMENIAN.Net - An initial report on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash will be released during the first week of September, said Wim van der Weegen, spokesman for the Dutch Safety Board (DSB), cited by Kommersant newspaper Thursday, Aug 14.

According to RIA Novosti, Van der Weegen told the paper that the report would take into account information from various sources, including flight data recorders, information from air traffic controllers, radar and satellite data, as well as the conclusion of international investigators that visited the crash site.

The Dutch Safety Board, which is in charge of victim identification and probing the cause of the disaster, has completed its work in Ukraine, the spokesman said, adding that the analysis of the gathered data will be conducted in the DSB headquarters in The Hague.

Malaysia Airlines MH17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17. All 298 people on board, including 193 Dutch nationals, died in the crash.

The investigation into the crash is severely obstructed by ongoing clashes between the government forces and pro-Russian armed groups in eastern regions of Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities claim the aircraft was shot down by militias, who deny the accusations, saying they do not posses the equipment to bring down a plane.